Update: the winner for last week’s Twilio + Drop.io contest willl be announced shortly.

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Each week, we announce a new contest category for our weekly developer contest, and just in time for the South By Southwest, the annual geek fest in Austin, Texas, we’re announcing a contest category that has been a hot topic – phone controlled multiplayer gaming. You’ll have until Sunday, March 21st to submit your application.

The idea behind this category is to explore how voice and SMS can be utilized to help people cooperate and collaborate in a mobile gaming experience, no matter what kind of phone they have. Because Twilio uses the keypress, voice recording, and SMS capabilities of the phone no smartphone is required to get in the game.

Rising Popularity in Mobile Social Games

Popular location based services like Foursquare and Gowalla are among the applications vying for attention of attendees at this year’s South by Southwest in what Techcrunch is calling “The Location Wars”. With gaming functionality for checking in at locations and exchanging virtual goods on the rise there are many more examples of interactive multiplayer games controlled from the phone. Sharing location is just one of many ways that massive numbers of mobile phone users are collaborating and competing in phone controlled games.

Twilio brings an additional element of awesome to this kind of application, because players don’t need a smartphone to participate. With voice and SMS, any phone can join in.

Examples of Phone Controlled Multi-Player Games

Megaphone – Interactive Digital Signage

These guys are so cool, and build interactive games for brands like Adidas and LG. Use this to see what we mean, and get inspired.

More Ideas to Noodle On

play massive games of capture the flag, kick the can, truth or dare and other fun party games

interact with billboard advertising or signs at stores

cooking up something fun with the Foursquare API (have you see Meet Gatsby – they’re a Twilio-powered app!)

Contest Submission Information

To submit, please include a link to a video demonstration of the game you’ve created in action. The video doesn’t have to be pretty or high quality, just show us how people use the game and why it is fun and unique.

For almost a year, Twilio has sponsored weekly developer contests to inspire innovation in voice applications. If you would like to propose a contest category or partnership, feel free to contact us at help@twilio.com. We’re always listening. Happy coding!